Flying Aerobot drone is being designed to soar in the skies of Titan

In preparation for the Cassini probe’s departure from Saturn, NASA is looking to sent a drone on the giant’s moon Titan. The agency has awarded a Small Business Innovation Research ﴾SBIR﴿ Phase 1 contract for the early‐stage development of these vehicles. Two private companies, Global Aerospace Corp. and Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems, have been picked by NASA to design a vehicle which will explore the surface of Saturn largest moon, known as the Titan Winged Aerobot. The agency also requested that they prepare a prototype of the vehicle for testing on Earth. The two companies will share a Phase 1 SBIR contract — NASA said that such contracts last six months and are worth up to US$125,000.